Back to Normal
by TheDinoGoesRawr
Summary: Sharpay and Ryan devise a plan to get East High back to the way it was before Gabriella came along. This causes quite a bit of mayhem throughout the school. Most people wanted Ryella & Troypay, so this is what its going to be. R&R!
1. Homeroom

**My last story wasn't working out so great, but I think everyone will enjoy this one a little bit more. I'm not really sure where this is going to go, but oh well.**

"Move, Move, Move…" Sharpay and Ryan repeated as they made their way through the mass of people crowding the halls to East High. Most people always did move because they didn't want to face the consequences later on. They reached their destination, Mrs. Darbus' homeroom.

Troy was busy talking to Chad and the rest of his basketball posse. Gabriella was going over some last minute stuff with the Scholastic Decathlon club members. Ryan and Sharpay strode beside their seats.

"Hi Troy" Sharpay said as cheerfully as possible, even though she wasn't really all that happy with him or Gabriella. "Great performance last night. The musical was a great success."

"Thanks, I guess. I'm seriously sorry though, we didn't even mean to audition in the first place, it was an accident." Troy said, hoping this would help, cause Sharpay was one person nobody wanted to be mad at them.

"That's alright, I suppose. The drama club always needs new faces." She said cheerfully. After Troy went back to talking to his teammates, Sharpay just rolled her eyes and took her seat. 'Amateur.' Sharpay thought. She then turned around to face Ryan. "We need to put everyone back in their proper places." Sharpay whispered to Ryan.

"How are we supposed to do that? This school is so messed up, I don't think the greatest power on this earth could fix this mess." Ryan whispered back.

"Hmm, you might be right, but I have a plan. A plan that can throw everyone back into their place. Especially Troy and Gabriella. It started with them, and it ends with them." Sharpay whispered, while a grin made its way to her face.

"I like where this is going. We need to get the drama club back to orbiting around us. So, what's the plan?" Ryan asked softly.

"We have to find a way to make them come to reason that a jock, and a brainiac doesn't belong in drama related activities, such as being the lead in the school play. We have to make them see that you and I are the only ones that are supposed to be in the play." Sharpay said.

"Okay, I see where this is going. We just have to find a way to convince them that the school was a better place before they became the lead in the musical?" Ryan asked, already quite knowing that this was the reason.

"Exactly. We'll come up with the plan at lunch." Sharpay said while turning around in her seat. They both just sat there with smiles plastered to their faces, knowing that soon that they would once again rule the school, and everything could go back to normal. In the meantime, they had to listen to Mrs. Darbus go over the morning announcements.

A tune then broke out in the classroom. "Is that a cell phone?" Mrs. Darbus screamed. Troy, Gabriella, Sarpay and Ryan all pulled out their cell phones. "Mr. Bolton, I thought you understood the first time, NO CELLPHONES!" Troy then placed his cell phone in the bucket. "Mr. & Ms. Evans, same goes for you. Cell phones please." The tune finally quit, but that didn't stop Mrs. Darbus from taking Gabriella's phone too. "Ms. Montez, obviously I didn't make it clear to you a few weeks ago. We have zere tolerance here for cell phones in class. Don't make me tell anyone in this room again." With that Mrs. Darbus went back up front. "And once again, you four have detention." All four of them groaned. Chad didn't bother to question her again, and Taylor made no attempt of making a smart remark. Jason decided against trying to lighten the mood. Last time, he just got weird looks from his classmates.

Riiiiiiiing! The bell rung to switch classes. Gabriella, Taylor and Sharpay had math next. It was Taylor & Gabriella's favorite subject, but one of Sharpay's least favorites. She preferred drama class, her and Ryan both did. But she was going to enjoy math a little more today because she was going to start her plan a little early today.

**How do you like it so far. If it's a little short, I'm sorry. Feel free to give me ideas. I would appreciate it. R&R**


	2. The Plan

**Well, here's chapter 2. I wonder what Sharpay is planning, & how Ryan will help. You'll just have to find out.**

"Hey Gabriella" Sharpay said cheerfully. This should be easy enough. She thought.

"Oh, uh, hi Sharpay" Gabriella replied. What could she possibly be wanting, she wondered.

"So, do you think you and Troy are going to continue being an active member of my dra… I mean, the drama club?" Sharpay asked, quickly covering up her mistake.

"I guess. Troy seemed happy about being in the musical, & so was I. So I'm sure that we'll become active members." Gabriella replied. What is she up to, she wondered.

"Oh, it's a shame that we'll lose the star of our champion basketball team." Sharpay replied.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked, now confused.

"Well, I've went to school with Troy my whole life. And I know for a fact that when he gets involved with something, he makes sure he dedicates all of his time to that one particular thing." Sharpay explained.

"I don't get it." Gabriella replied.

"Gabriella, whats not to get. Troy loves basketball, but he would rather do what makes you happy. If being part of the drama club is something that makes you happy, then he'll drop basketball completely and do what makes you happy, rather he likes it or not." Sharpay said convincingly.

"He wouldn't really drop basketball completely would he?" Gabriella asked more to herself then to Sharpay.

"If being in the school's drama associated activities is something you enjoy, then he'll go all out for you. He's not the type of person to fail at something. If he joined the drama club, he would want to be the star. Even if it meant letting go of the thing he loves to do most." Sharpay said with fake sympathy in her voice. It's a good thing I'm such a fabulous actor. She thought. If someone was telling me this, I wouldn't believe it for a second.

"Are you sure, 'cause it seems like he can juggle doing both and…" Gabriella started, but Sharpay cut her off.

"Of course I'm sure. He'll go all out to be the star of whatever he's doing." Sharpay said.

"Well, what should I do?" Gabriella asked.

"What do you think you should do?" Sharpay questioned.

"Well, I don't want to be the cause of Troy dropping out of basketball. I don't want to do anything that Troy doesn't like." Gabriella said. "I guess I should drop out of Drama club. 'Cause I really don't want Troy to get mad at me."

"If that's what you think is best. Well, nice talking to you." With that Sharpay leaned back to her position in her seat, thoroughly satisfied.

Taylor had been listening the whole time. So Gabriella decided to ask her for advice on what to do. "Taylor, do you think she was telling the truth?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, for once she might be." Taylor said, knowing that Gabriella wanted her to say Sharpay was lying, but for once Sharpay might be telling the truth.

"What makes you say that?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, I've known Troy the same amount of time as Sharpay. Troy does seem to have an act of being the star of whatever he does." Taylor said

"Really, well, I guess I'll just see what happens. I think that if Troy didn't want to be in drama club he would tell me." Gabriella replied.

"Yeah, I guess." Taylor said.

Lunchtime came. Sharpay & Ryan were at their normal tables, but the other members of the drama club were absent. They were all scattered around the cafeteria thanks to Troy and Gabriella's meddling. Sharpay had just got through telling Ryan about how she put her plan in action.

"So, what's the rest of the plan then?" Ryan asked.

"Your part of the next phase of the plan." Sharpay said while smiling.

"What about me?" Ryan asked, a little worried. 'Cause he knew that his sister was capable of causing total mayhem.

"Your going to try to get Gabriella to fall for you." Sharpay pointed out.

"What, are you crazy!" Ryan screamed.

"Keep it down, do you want the whole school to hear you!" Sharpay screamed back, causing Ryan to jump a little.

"Sorry. But I thought you were trying to get them to drop out of drama club. You said that you tricked Gabriella into thinking that Troy didn't want to be in drama club. Why do I have to try to get Gabriella to start liking me? She'll probably just tell Troy that she changed her mind about the drama club or something." Ryan said, trying to get Sharpay to change her plans.

"Well, we're not going to exactly make Gabriella fall for you. We're going to make it look like that she's cheating on Troy." Sharpay said.

"Oh, ok. So, how are we going to do that?" Ryan asked.

"Well, here's what we do." Sharpay then whispered the rest of the plan to Ryan so no one would over hear. "Got it?"

"Got it." Ryan said.

"We can start the plan right after lunch, since its free period." Sharpay said.

"Cool. Maybe after this is over everything will start to go back to normal." Ryan said.

"Hopefully." Sharpay agreed. They both continued their lunch. After about half an hour, lunch was over, & it was time for free period.

**Well, there's chapter 2. Hope you liked it. I already have an idea of what the plan is, I just wanted it to have a suspenseful ending. Well, hope you leave a review. I'll try to update soon.**


	3. Phase One

**Well, here's chapter 3. This chapter is where the plan comes in. Hope you like it. **

"Okay Ryan, you know the plan." Sharpay whispered as they walked down the hall.

"Yeah, I watch for you signal." Ryan whispered back.

"Go find Gabriella, I'm sure she's by her locker & I'll find Troy & lead him there. You know the rest." Sharpay said.

"Yeah, let's go." Ryan said.

Ryan walked down the halls to Gabriella's locker. There she was. Now all he had to do was keep talking to her until he saw Sharpay give the signal.

"Hi Gabriella" Ryan said.

"Hi Ryan, where's Sharpay?" She asked.

"Um, I think she went to the bathroom. All she said was that she would talk to me later." Ryan answered.

"Oh." Gabriella answered. She felt a bit awkward, 'cause she's never even said 1 word to Ryan, & now he's talking to her like they've been friends for a long time.

"So, have you decided to stay as a member of the drama club?" Ryan asked.

"I talked to… wait, how do you know about that?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh, uh, Sharpay told me that you were having second thoughts. We were both sorry to hear that. We really enjoyed the musical last night. Its also good that everyone can talk outside their cliques." Ryan replied, hoping she bought the lie.

"Oh. Well anyways, I talked to Troy. I told him that he should just drop out of drama club, but I told him I would stay in it maybe. He seemed kind of shocked, but I explained that I wanted him to continue to be the star of the basketball team. He understood. So I'm not really sure myself." Gabriella answered.

"So…" Ryan said, feeling a bit awkward. He didn't know of anything else to talk about.

"So…" Gabriella repeated feeling a bit awkward herself.

"How's the decathlon club going?" Ryan asked, breaking the deafening silence. He didn't really care, but he had to do something to keep her talking. Where was Sharpay at with Troy anyway? He wondered.

"It's doing great. Me and Taylor have got things going pretty smoothly." Gabriella answered.

"That's good." Ryan said as he glanced at the corner. Then Sharpay & Troy came walking around the corner. Troy didn't notice Ryan and Gabriella, but Sharpay seen them. She gave Ryan a thumbs up, as the signal.

"So, what…" Gabriella started, but got cut off. Ryan grabbed her and kissed her. Gabriella was token aback by this. What is he thinking? She thought.

"OMG." Sharpay said.

"What?" Troy asked her as he looked in the direction of her gaze. He then saw what he wished he couldn't have saw. "Gabriella?" he said, hoping it was someone else.

She then pulled out of Ryan's grasps. "Troy, I didn't know that…" she started.

"First you tell me that I should drop out of drama club, then you go and kiss Ryan!" Troy yelled.

"It's not what it looks like." Gabriella pleaded.

"It sure looks like it. You were kissing Ryan. Is that why you wanted me to drop out of drama club, so you can be with Ryan!" Troy yelled again.

"No, Troy, listen…" Gabriella tried to say again.

"Forget it, I'm out of here." Troy said. With that he marched off in the direction of the gym. I can't believe her! She told me last night that she loved me, and now, today, she goes and kisses Ryan. I mean come on, Ryan! Ryan Evans! The Ice Princess's brother. Ugh, I wish things would go back to normal at times like these. I wish this school was back to the way it was, things were a lot smoother that way. All these thoughts were going in and out of his head as he walked into the gym to shoot some hoops with his team.

"Ryan, why did you kiss me?" Gabriella asked.

"I uh, I don't know." Ryan said, not knowing what to say.

"There has to be a reason. Thanks to you, Troy's mad at me. You should have a good explanation." Gabriella said.

"It's just that, I really, really like you Gabriella. I didn't know Troy was going to walk around the corner. I liked you since the 1st day you came here." Ryan lied, but sounded very believable.

"You knew I was going out with Troy. You had no right to do that." Gabriella said, almost ready to cry.

"I'm sorry, I know it was wrong. I just didn't think I would get a chance to ever do that. You and Troy made such a good couple, that I didn't think you two would ever break up. That's why I took that opportunity to kiss you, when Troy wasn't around. I wish I wouldn't have done that. I'm really sorry Gabriella." Ryan said. Putting on a fake guilty act.

"Gabriella, don't be so hard on Ryan. He does stuff, before he even thinks about it. He's done that his whole life." Sharpay said, in a fake sympathetic voice. "But if I were you, I would be mad at him too, so I don't blame you"

"I guess it's okay, but Sharpay, could you tell Mrs. Darbus that I changed my mind about being in the drama club?" Gabriella asked.

"Ok, but you could still be in it without Troy." Sharpay offered, hoping she would refuse.

"That's okay. I would rather not." Gabriella answered. With that she started towards the chem.-lab, while holding back tears.

"Were half way finished" Sharpay said to Ryan as they made their way down the secluded hallway to the drama room.

"What's left?" Ryan asked.

"We have to talk to Troy, to see if he's officially broken up with Gabriella. If not, we have to make sure that he does officially end it. After the school hears that they broke up & dropped out of drama club, then everyone should go back to normal, if we do this right." Sharpay answered.

"Well, he's not going to talk to me, so you'll have to talk to Troy." Ryan said.

"Ok. All of us has the same class next period." Sharpay said.

"All of who?" Ryan said. Ugh, he can be so clueless sometimes. Sharpay thought.

"You, me, Troy and Gabriella" Sharpay said with an exasperated sigh.

"Oh. So what's the next part to the plan?" Ryan asked.

Sharpay whispered to Ryan. "Ugh!" Ryan groaned.

"Do you want this school back to normal or not?" Sharpay scolded.

"Fine, but I still don't like this." Ryan complained again.

They had been discussing this in the drama room. Mrs. Darbus had a sub, cause she had to leave early, so they didn't have any practice. So they just discussed the plan the whole period.

**What's going to happen now. Well, leave a review. Do you want Troy & Gabriella to stay together, or would you like some other people to get together, like Ryan and Gabriella or Troy & Sharpay? I'll try to update soon!**


	4. Unexpected Surprise

The next class came. Ryan and Sharpay walked in. Gabriella and Troy walked in moments after.

"Troy if you would just let me explain." Gabriella pleaded as she was walking behind Troy.

"Gabriella, I'm just not in the mood to talk right now. Maybe we can talk later or something, but I really don't feel like it right now." Troy said.

"Please Troy. I'm sorry that happened. It shouldn't have. Please forgive me." Gabriella begged.

"I can't just forgive and forget that easily. I have feelings too." Troy said.

"I know Troy, I understand that. I would just like a chance to explain what happened. I don't expect you to forgive me just yet." Gabriella said.

"Fine, sit down here." Troy said as he took a seat, & Gabriella took the seat next to him. Sharpay and Ryan sat behind them, so they could hear the conversation.

"Ryan, if she tells him that you kissed her, then he'll know something is up. You have to do something." Sharpay said.

"I'm on it. Hey, Gabriella" Ryan whispered loud enough for just her to hear him.

"What now?" She asked.

"Please don't tell Troy that I kissed you. I don't want him to get mad at me." Ryan whispered.

"What should I tell him?" Gabriella asked.

"Tell him that you were rehearsing a scene for drama class." Ryan answered.

"But I dropped out, remember?" Gabriella said.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know that." Ryan said.

"Ok. I guess." Gabriella answered. Wait, why am I trying to keep Ryan out of trouble? It was his fault that Troy got mad at me. I don't really want to lie to Troy, but I already agreed to tell him that. Now I'm so confused. Ryan does have a way of making people see things his way. Him and Sharpay both. I don't know if its just because they're terrific actors or if I might like Ryan. No, I don't like Ryan. I can't like Ryan. I like Troy. Not Ryan, Troy. But Ryan dresses more appropriately. He doesn't wear baggy clothes, & he already has his career planned out. Troy isn't sure of whether he wants to be an actor, singer, basketball player, or what. But Troy is so nice, well, now he is after I came into his life. Ryan, I assume has been the same before I came to East High, but he's not exactly a favorite in the book of most people. But he can be nice when he wants to be. He's not as rude and stuff as his sister. I don't know. Gabriella just sat there thinking.

"Gabriella, Gabriella. Earth to Gabriella." Troy said while waving his hand in front of her face.

"Huh, oh, sorry Troy." She said.

"Well, explain yourself. That's what you've been begging to do." Troy said.

"Oh, right. You see, we weren't really kissing, we were just acting out a scene for drama class. It wasn't anything to be alarmed about." She said.

"Oh, now I feel so stupid. I shouldn't have gotten so mad. I'm sorry." Troy apologized.

"That's okay. But I don't know if we should be boyfriend/girlfriend anymore." Gabriella said, looking down at her desk.

"What, I thought that's why you begged and begged for me to forgive you." Troy said, shocked.

"I thought so too, at 1st, but I really think it would be better if we were just friends. I think you are an amazing guy Troy, but I'm just not the right person for you. I know someone who could meet you standards much better then myself." Gabriella said.

"Who?" Troy asked. Now Sharpay and Ryan were getting interested. They leaned forward a little.

"Looks like we won't have to use our little plan now after all." Sharpay whispered to Ryan.

"Good." He replied. "I didn't really want to ask Gabriella out in front of the whole class."

"Shhh, I'm trying to hear." Sharpay said.

"Sorry." He apologized.

"Gabriella, who do you think would be better for me?" Troy asked again.

"I think Sharpay would." Gabriella answered.

"What!" Troy, Ryan, and Sharpay screamed at once.

"What makes you say that?" Troy asked.

"Well, you both like to be the star at whatever you do, & you both basically control the school." Gabriella said.

Troy and Sharpay both began to take this into consideration. Those were 2 big characteristics that they both shared.

"Well, what do you say guys?" Gabriella asked. Ryan just sat there dumb founded. He thought this was hysterical. But he held back his laughter.

"Uhh…" Troy and Sharpay both said.

"Why don't you 2 give it some thought. But Troy, you're not mad at me are you?" Gabriella asked.

"No." Troy replied coolly.

"Ok, that's good. Nobody would want you to be mad at them. Your such a nice guy." Gabriella said.

"Thanks. But why did you want to break up with me? I know you said its best that we just be friends, but I know you couldn't have dumped me because you thought me and Sharpay would make a better couple." Troy asked.

"I uh, uh." Gabriella stammered.

"Come on Gabby, there has to be a reason." Troy said.

"Nope, no reason. I just think you and Sharpay are a better couple, that's all." Gabriella said in a nervous, rushing tone.

"Suuuure." Troy teased.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiing! Before they all even knew it, class was over. What did they even do. Must of not been too important if the teacher let them talk all through the class.

They all got up. "Sharpay, can I talk to you?" Troy asked. "Alone?" he said, looking at Ryan.

"Uh, sure. Ryan, go on ahead, I'll talk to you later." Sharpay said.

"Ok. Troy, sorry about that. We should've been practicing in the rehearsal room, instead of the hallway." Ryan apologized, actually kind of sorry that Gabriella broke up with him.

"Ah, it's cool man." Troy said.

With that Ryan gave a nod to Troy and his sister & went on ahead.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Sharpay asked.

"Well, Gabriella had a point about us. I mean those are two big similarities that we both share." Troy said

"Yeah, I guess so." Sharpay said. "But what about it?"

"Well, maybe she's right." Troy said.

"About what?" she asked. She felt just as clueless as her brother, but then she understood what he was talking about. "Oh, you mean us being a good couple?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering if maybe you would like to try it out for awhile, you know, being a couple?" Troy asked.

"Wouldn't Zeke get mad, cause you know he has a crush on me?" Sharpay asked.

"He'll get over it. Besides, I think he likes one of the cheerleaders now anyway." Troy answered.

"Well, how do you think the school would react, you know, to us?" Sharpay asked.

"I guess they would be surprised. Maybe things would start to go back to normal. I mean, I could just focus on basketball, you could stay in drama club, Gabby could stay in the Chem club and Ryan could stay in the drama club as well." Troy replied.

"How would things go back to normal?" Sharpay asked.

"If we stay in our proper spots, people will see that we should stay in our own clique's." Troy answered.

"Who cares about if the school goes back to normal or not?" Sharpay asked.

"I thought you did?" Troy asked.

"Not anymore, let them do whatever. But do you seriously want me to be you girlfriend?" Sharpay asked.

"Only if you want to." Troy said.

"Sure. The answer is yes." Sharpay said.

"Awesome." He said. "Well, come on, we're going to be late for class."

"Ok Troy." Sharpay giggled. She couldn't believe she was going out with Troy Bolton. She didn't know what chaos this would insure, but who cares. She got the other thing she wanted most. But why would Gabriella dump Troy, & try to convince us to be a couple. It doesn't make sense. No one in their right mind would break up with Troy Bolton, unless there was someone else they were interested in. Something was up, & she was going to get to the bottom of it.

**Well, there's chapter 4, what's going to happen now, hmm, I guess you'll just have to keep reading and find out. Well, review. Please and thank you.**


	5. Confessions

**Well, here we go with chapter 5. Hope everyone likes it so far. Oh, and thanks to the people who left reviews.**

Gabriella ventured to her final class of the day. Sharpay, Troy and Ryan also had this class. Jason and Kelsi had this class too. They would probably just spend all of their time flirting. I mean, come on, the guy takes off her hat, & helps her make a basket. I guess that's one way for 2 people to become a couple. Oh, well. Gabriella thought as she took a seat in the middle of the room. Sharpay came in and took the seat to Gabriella's right. Ryan sat directly in front of Sharpay. And Troy sat directly behind Sharpay.

"So, what did you and Troy talk about?" Ryan whispered to Sharpay.

"Nothing that concerns you!" Sharpay snapped.

"He asked you out, didn't he?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, so, what's it to you?" Sharpay sneered.

"Please tell me you said no?" Ryan said.

"Well…" Sharpay said.

"You said yes. Are you crazy. This is going to cause a whole other mess of problems." Ryan said.

"No, it won't. He's not going to be in any more drama related activities. We're all just going to hang out with our normal people. Well, except me and Troy might eat lunch together or something every now and then, but other then that its fine." Sharpay said.

"Whatever you say." Ryan said while rolling his eyes and turning around in his seat.

"What was that all about?" Troy asked Sharpay.

"He's just making a big deal about you being my boyfriend." Sharpay said a little louder then intended, cause she was a little frustrated. The room was deathly quite at the time too. Everyone stared at them. Everyone's mouth dropped open, then they turned to look at Gabriella, thinking she didn't know about this.

"What, me and Troy broke up. Its fine." She answered to get everyone to stop staring at her like she was some kind of experiment. Everyone turned back to Troy and Sharpay.

"What?" Sharpay screamed. Everyone turned back around. Then everyone whipped out their cell phones, & began dialing their friends' numbers. You was able to hear everyone talking about the new couple.

"Man. It's like they've never seen two people get together before." Troy said.

"I know what you mean." Sharpay said. "I'll catch up to you later Troy, I'm going to talk to Gabriella."

"Ok." Troy said.

"Hey Gab." Sharpay said.

"Oh, hi." She said.

"So, who's the person you like?" Sharpay asked.

"Who said anything about me liking someone?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, no one breaks up with Troy Bolton, unless they're interested in someone else." Sharpay stated.

"Just because I break up with the star of the basketball team doesn't mean I like someone else." Gabriella said.

"Ok, whatever you say." Sharpay said. She knew Gabriella was lying. She was going to find out who her crush was one way or another. But this would have to wait until tomorrow, because it was nearly the end of the day. Only 5 minutes left. How come none of the teachers have actually been teaching today. Oh well. Better to not do any work.

Riiiiiiiiing! The final bell of the day rung after 5 minutes. Everyone got up and left to go to their locker. Ryan decided to just go on ahead. He figured Sharpay would want to be with Troy alone. Maybe she has a point though. Just because she's dating Troy doesn't mean the school can't still go back to normal. As long as they all stayed in their normal activites, it could still work out. Ryan was too lost in thought to notice where he was going.

Gabriella didn't have anyone to walk to her locker with her today, so she just walked to her locker by herself. Ryan already got to his locker. But then he remembered that he was supposed to turn his English paper in from the last class. He didn't have much time, so he fast walked to the English class. He was still lost in a chain of thoughts. Gabriella realized that she had been lingering at her locker a bit too long. She would miss the bus if she didn't hurry. She too, began to fast walk, also in deep thought. Ryan and Gabriella were headed right towards each other but didn't realize it, because they were lost in thought, & too worried about being late. Before they knew it. BAM! The crashed into each other. Their books fell out of their hands, & their papers went flying in different directions.

"I'm so, so, so sorry!" Gabriella said, as she bent down and began picking up the dropped items.

"No, that's okay. It was my fault." Ryan said as he began helping her pick up the stuff.

"No really, I wasn't paying attention. It's my fault." Gabriella insisted.

"Well, actually, I think it must have been both of our faults' because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going either." Ryan said.

Gabriella glanced out the windows of where the bus is usually parked, but she didn't see it. "Great." She groaned. "Now I'm going to have to walk home."

"Oh no, Mr. Devlon is probably already gone. Now he's going to count my assignment late." Ryan groaned as well. They both finished gathering up their stuff, and stood up.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later." Gabriella said.

"Wait, I can give you a ride home." Ryan offered. "I have to drive by your house anyway."

"If you don't mind." Gabriella replied.

"No, I don't care. It isn't like I have anywhere else to be at this time. And plus, your house is 5 miles from here, by the time you got home, it would probably be 9:00." Ryan said.

"Thanks, I owe you" She said.

"No sweat." Ryan said. "Now come on, we don't want to be late for anything else."

Gabriella giggled. "Yeah, if I'm late getting home, my mom will be worried sick. When she sees that I didn't get off the bus, she'll go crazy."

Gabriella and Ryan walked out of the school. Ryan led the way to his car. It was a dark blue mustang. Gabriella eyed it in disbelief. How could he afford such as this.

"I like your car." Gabriella said, as they were driving towards her house.

"Thanks. I have an uncle that lives in L.A. He's a famous movie producer." He gave me and Sharpay each one as a gift. Sharpay's is red." Ryan explained.

"That's cool." Gabriella said. "For real though, why did you kiss me?"

"I told you already." Ryan answered uneasily. He didn't have his sister here to back him up this time.

"I know that's not the truth. I was able to tell. After working enough with you two in the musical, I know when your both acting or when your not." Gabriella said.

"Ok, do you really want me to tell you?" Ryan asked.

"Yes." Gabriella replied.

"Sharpay would probably kill me if she knew I was going to tell you this, but here it goes…You see, me and Sharpay wanted the school to go back to normal. So we, mostly her, sat up a plan to break you and Troy up. I didn't like that idea, but whenever Sharpay decides something, you better agree with her, and do what she says." Ryan said.

"I knew something was up. Cause I've never even said one word to you and suddenly you start talking to me." Gabriella replied.

"I had a feeling that you were catching on to us. But you're not mad that we basically ruined you relationship?" Ryan asked.

"No. Me and Troy had more chemistry before we started dating, but now the only chemistry left is just friendship. And plus, I think I like someone else." Gabriella said without thinking.

"Oh really?" Ryan asked.

"I mean, uh, oh, here's my house." Gabriella said, feeling a little relieved.

Ryan pulled into the drive way and pulled to a stop. Gabriella jumped out as fast as she could and grabbed her stuff. "Bye Ryan!" She yelled as she slammed the car door and ran in the house.

That was strange. Ryan thought, but shrugged it off. Soon it was a new day, & everyone was going to their homeroom.

"Hi Troy." Sharpay said as she took her seat.

"Hey Shar." Troy said, then turned around to Chad. He didn't get a chance to talk to him because he had to help his mom and dad do some chores, and it was late by the time he got done. He was so tired that he fell asleep on the couch watching T.V.

"Dude, so what's up with you and Sharpay?" Chad asked.

"She's my new girlfriend. Me and Gabriella like being friends better. She's the one who suggested me and Sharpay should go out. So I asked Shar out, and now she's my girlfriend." Troy said.

"Ok. Weird, but cool I guess." Chad said.

Ryan was sitting behind Sharpay. Sharpay turned around to talk to him. "Gabriella said that she doesn't like anyone, but I'm not so sure." Sharpay said.

"That's not what she told me." Ryan said, then covered his mouth.

"What do you know?" Sharpay asked.

"Nothing." Ryan said quickly.

"Oh, but I think you do brother dearest, now spill!" Sharpay screeched in a whisper.

"Ok, ok. She missed the bus, so I gave her a ride home. She asked why I kissed her, so I told her about the plan, but she wasn't mad, and I asked her how come, and she said that she thinks she likes someone else. But we was already parked in her drive way before I could find out anymore." Ryan said.

"So she does have interest in someone? Hmmm." Sharpay said.

"Wait, I thought you were her friend now?" Ryan asked.

"I am, but it won't hurt to nose around a little." With that, Sharpay flashed Ryan a grin and turned back around in her seat.

"Great. Here we go again with the evil planning." Ryan said to himself, but low enough so no one heard him.

**What could Sharpay be up to now. Who knows? Well, leave a review and tell me how you like it so far.**


	6. Collision

**Here's chapter 6. What's going to happen next?**

Homeroom was soon over with. It was now math time for Sharpay and Gabriella.

"So Gabriella. What have you been up to?" Sharpay asked.

"Nothing, just homework, watching T.V. you know, the basics." Gabriella answered.

"Oh. So, I heard someone saying something about that someone likes you. I didn't catch the name though." Sharpay said.

"That's nice." Gabriella said, a little uneasy.

"Maybe it might be someone your interested in." Sharpay said.

"But I'm not interested in anyone." Gabriella replied.

"Really. Everyone is always crushing on someone." Sharpay said.

"So, what's your point?" Gabriella asked.

"My point is that I know you have to like someone in this school. And I want to know who it is." Sharpay said.

"Fine, I do like someone, but I really don't want to say who it is." Gabriella said.

"How come?" Sharpay asked.

"Because I want to keep it a secret. And I don't know if they like me the same way." Gabriella answered.

"Maybe if you tell me who it is, I could find out if they like you or not." Sharpay suggested.

"No, that's okay. I can find out by myself, thanks for the offer though." Gabriella answered. How could she tell anyone about who she likes, especially his Sharpay Evans. Sharpay may be acting like her friend, but she still didn't trust her.

"Well, ok, guess I'll talk to you later then." Sharpay said. This isn't over yet Gabriella Montez, Sharpay thought. I will get to the bottom of this. I, meaning Ryan. I have the perfect plan. Math was over in about 45 minutes. Everyone went in and out of the next class as well. It was soon lunch time. Sharpay told Troy that she already promised Ryan that she would sit with him, but she would sit with him tomorrow.

"How come you're not sitting with Troy?" Ryan asked.

"Because, I have a plan to find out who Gabriella likes." She answered.

"Why is it so important that you find out who she likes. Can't she just have her privacy?" Ryan asked. He didn't know if he was defending Gabriella because she was nice or that he just didn't want to get mixed up in one of Sharpay's crazy plans again, maybe it was both.

"Because, because, because, well, I don't know why. I just want to know ok? I don't need a reason for doing something!" Sharpay snapped.

"Sorry. What's your plan?" Ryan asked as he jumped back a little. Man Sharpay could be scary at times. Ryan thought.

"My plan is that you're going to find out what you can from her. I mean, she told you that she liked someone, so she might tell you who it is." Sharpay said.

"Why do I have to do the snooping?" Ryan asked.

"Because, she won't tell me anything, I had to drag it out of her to at least admit that she likes someone. And for some reason she feels comfortable around you, I don't know why, but that doesn't matter right now." Sharpay said.

"What if I said I don't want to go snooping around and trying to figure out someone's private life?" Ryan asked, getting some courage.

"I would say, you better listen to me or else." Sharpay answered sternly.

"Or else what, there isn't anything you could do to me." Ryan replied.

"I hold a lot of power Ryan, I can do things, bad things. And I suggest that you help me if you don't want to find out what those things are." Sharpay sneered.

"Riiiiight. Ok. I'm just going to go find somewhere else to sit." Ryan said as he grabbed his tray and stood up to leave. "Oh, and I'm not going to go along with this plan this time. I may go along with other plans. But when it comes to nosing around in people's personal lives, I'm not interested." Ryan said as he walked off.

Sharpay just scoffed, and turned made her way down the steps to find Troy. She needed someone to vent to about her selfish, as she puts it, brother.

Ryan was just coming from taking his tray up, and Gabriella was going to take her tray up. Someone each both called out to each of them. Someone called out to Ryan from the right side of the cafeteria, and called out to Gabriella from the left. They each both turned their heads in the direction of the callings, they didn't see each other, or the spilled milk on the floor. Then they both slipped and ran into each other. They both were now lying on the floor, with the remains of Gabriella's half eaten lunch on them.

"Oh no, not again." Gabriella said, she hadn't yet realized who she ran into. "How many times am I going to spill my lunch this year?" She said to herself, but she didn't expect an answer.

"I don't know. How many times are we going to run into each other, or how many times is there going to be spilled milk on the floor?" Ryan asked. Gabriella immediately recognized his voice. They were both standing up wiping food off of them now.

"Oh, no. I ran into you again?" Gabriella said. "How do these things keep happening to me?"

"Don't blame yourself, I think it was both of us again." Ryan said.

"I guess I'm just going to keep running into and spilling stuff on the Evans twins the rest of my life." Gabriella joked.

"I don't know, maybe not your whole life, just maybe through high school and possibly college." Ryan joked back. "Here, let me help you with that." He said as he bent down and began helping Gabriella pick up the containers, bowls, and the other items that were lying on the floor.

"Thanks." Gabriella said. "If you see Sharpay, tell her that I don't want to tell anyone who I like. She won't leave me alone about it."

"Ok. Not that she'll listen to me. I'm not really in the mood to talk to her right now." Ryan answered, as they began walking towards the trashcans.

"How come?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"Because for once, I stood up to her, and told her that I didn't want to be part of her stupid plan, and now she's mad." Ryan answered.

"What was the plan this time?" Gabriella asked. "It couldn't have been a plan to break me up with anyone, cause the fact I'm not dating anyone."

"You might want to sit down for this one." Ryan said.

"Ok, oh, here's a free table." Gabriella said. They both sat down at the table. They received several curious looking glances every now and then, but they just ignored it.

"Well, this time Sharpay was wanting me to try to get you to tell me who you like. I told her that I didn't want to go nosing around other people's business. Everyone has their own life, and I didn't think that she should be trying to find out secrets that she has no business knowing." Ryan explained.

"I thought she was my friend." Gabriella said.

"That's what I asked her. She says that she is, but that doesn't mean she can't snoop around." Ryan answered.

"Well, thanks for not becoming part of that plan." Gabriella said.

"No problem. If it dealt with something else, I might would have considered it, but trying to figure out people's life stories is something I don't do. I'll leave that to the gossip columns in magazines." Ryan replied with a laugh. Gabriella giggled.

"How about we spend the rest of lunch in the auditorium. I need to get some practice in, and maybe we could find some different shirts to wear." Ryan suggested.

"Sure, but are we allowed in there?" Gabriella asked. "And are we allowed to wear costumes?"

"Anyone is allowed in there whenever they want, and they keep a box with costumes that they never use anymore. Everyone just uses them in case something happens to their clothes." Ryan said.

"Ok, but what do you need practice on?" Gabriella asked. "The winter "musicale" is over." Gabriella said, mocking Mrs. Darbuse by calling the musical a musicale.

"Yeah, but there's still the spring "musicale" Ryan said, also mocking Mrs. Darbus.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. There'll still be one more musical. I guess I could help you practice." Gabriella said.

"Yeah, that could help. Well, come on, there isn't much time." Ryan said. They both got up and went to the auditorium. Ryan led the way to where the excess costumes were.

"How about this?" Ryan asked sarcastically as he held up what looked like a shirt from the 70's.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Gabriella said. "Why don't you put this on?" Gabriella said as she held up a basketball jersey.

"Yeah, that's not really my style." Ryan said with a grin. "Oh, here, do you like this." Ryan asked as he held up a pink sweat shirt that had a lavender belt looped around the waste.

"That's cute." Gabriella said as she took it out of Ryan's hands. "Here, what about this?" Gabriella asked as she held up a dark blue and light blue, vertical striped button up shirt.

"That's perfect." Ryan said as he took it from Gabriella's hands.

"Guess we know each other a little better then we thought." Gabriella said with her sweet smile.

"Yeah, guess we do." Ryan said with a smile too. They both looked around for a few seconds, then they met each other's eyes. They both wanted to look away, but couldn't find themselves to do so. Before they knew it, they found themselves leaning in, their faces were no more then an inch apart, when suddenly the door's to the auditorium burst open, which caused them to jump apart.

"I thought I heard someone in here." Mrs. Darbus said.

"Hi Mrs. Darbus." Gabriella said sweetly.

"Hello Mrs. Montez, and… Mr. Evan's." Mrs. Darbus said with a little bit of suprisement in her voice. She figured she would have seen Gabriella and Troy, or Ryan and Sharpay. These were the two she least expected to be seen together.

"Hi Mrs. Darbus" Ryan said.

"What brings you two here?" Mrs. Darbus asked.

"Well, there was kind of a little accident in the cafeteria, Ryan and I had a little collision, so we came here to look through the old costumes to try to find a shirt to wear." Gabriella answered.

"Ah, well then, carry on." Mrs. Darbus said as she left the auditorium.

"Well, guess we better get changed and get some practice in, we only have 12 minutes left before we have to go to class." Ryan said.

"Yeah, guess so." Gabriella agreed.

**Why couldn't Mrs. Darbus have been gone again? Oh well. Please leave a review.**


	7. Ice Cream, Family and Basketball

**Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I rented Halloweentown High, you know, with Lucas Grabeel. I watched it, and his character wanted to be in a play. I forgot about that part, cause I haven't watched it in awhile. But I thought that was weird, because his character in high school musical likes to be in plays. Well, anyways, here's another chapter.**

They both were changed in less than two minutes.

"What song do you want to practice." Gabriella asked.

"How about you and me run through Breaking Free. It's the only song that you and me both had to practice." Ryan suggested.

"Sure." Gabriella replied.

Ryan put in the tape with the song Breaking Free on it. They sang the lyrics together. As the song ended, they smiled at each other.

"That sounded great." Ryan said.

"Yeah." Gabriella agreed.

"Guess we better head out, class starts in four minutes and we still have to go to our lockers." Ryan said.

"Yeah, too bad. This was fun." Gabriella said.

"I had fun too. Well come on." Ryan said.

They both walked out of the auditorium, and went the opposite way to their lockers. Sharpay seen Ryan at his locker. She felt bad that she yelled at him. Gabriella was her friend, so she shouldn't be trying to find out her secrets. So she decided to go apologize to Ryan.

"Hi Ryan." Sharpay said.

"Hey Shar." Ryan said, still getting books from his locker and stuffing them in his messenger bag.

"I just wanted to apologize, you know, for yelling at you." Sharpay said.

"That's okay I guess." Ryan said while shutting his locker door.

"I was going to apologize at lunch, but I didn't see you, where were you." She asked.

"Oh, I was in the auditorium practicing some songs." He answered.

"With who?" she asked.

"With a friend I guess." He replied.

"Gabriella?" she asked.

"Yeah, how did you…" he started but got cut off.

"Someone said that you two left the cafeteria together after a little collision." She replied.

"Yeah. We had to go change shirts. And she helped me practice." He replied, now walking down the hall with his sister.

"Are you trying out with her for the spring musical?" Sharpay asked.

"I don't think so. I thought I was trying out with you?" he said, confused.

"I just thought that you would want to try out with your girlfriend." Sharpay said.

"Huh? Gabriella's not my girlfriend." Ryan replied.

"But you like her, don't you?" Sharpay asked curiously.

"I don't know, she's nice. We're just friends" Ryan answered, blushing a little.

"Well, do you like her or not?" Sharpay asked again.

"I don't know, I told you." He answered.

"Why don't you ask her out?" Sharpay chimed.

"What? I told you I don't know if I like her like that or not." Ryan answered.

"Aw, come on Ryan. You know, and I know you like her. She would be a good girlfriend for you." Sharpay said, still following close behind.

"Relationships take time to grow. I don't want to rush things." He answered.

"Ok, I guess your right." She replied. They were now in the classroom. Sharpay sat down next to Troy. Normally Ryan would sit by Sharpay, but Gabriella wasn't sitting with anyone, so he figured he would sit by her, Sharpay would probably question him about it later, but he didn't care.

"Hey Gab, is anyone sitting there?" Ryan asked.

Gabriella looked up and smiled. "No, go ahead, sit down."

"So, are you going to be trying out for the spring musical?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe, it just depends." She answered.

"So, there's a dance coming up." Ryan said.

"There is?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, I saw it posted on the bulletin board this morning." He said.

"When is it?" she asked.

"This Friday." He answered.

"It's already Wednesday, and I don't have a date." She replied.

"Neither do I" Ryan said.

"I'm sure you'll find someone." Gabriella ensured.

"I guess." Ryan said. Then he built up his courage. "Do you want to go with me?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah, I'd like that." She replied shyly.

They just smiled at each other. Sharpay had been watching them and eavesdropping. She just sighed. "Aren't they perfect for each other?" she asked Troy.

"I guess." He replied. "But it don't look like they know just how perfect they are together."

"I know what you mean. Maybe they'll get together, but in the mean time, I want the school to go back to normal." She replied, the evilness going back to her eyes.

"I thought you said you didn't care?" Troy asked confused.

"At first I didn't, but I changed my mind. That was sort of like a hobby to me, without it, school is pretty boring." She replied.

"Okay, what are you going to do?" he asked.

"I have a plan. Your going to take a cheerleader to the dance, and I'll take one of the drama club members." She answered.

"How would that help?" Troy asked.

"Everyone would see that it's better to stay with their own cliques." Sharpay said.

"So, we're not going to the dance together?" he asked.

"No, not unless you want to, I can think of an even better plan." She said.

"I really don't want to take a cheerleader." He said.

"Okay, well, I'll need a new plan now, Hmm…" she said.

"I know, how about you start acting like your normal self, you know, bossy, and I'll just talk about basketball 24/7 and carry a basketball around all the time like Chad." Troy suggested.

"That's brilliant. I think some of my evilness wore off on you." Sharpay said with a smile. "We'll put this plan into action, immediately."

The bell rang, it was time for the last class. Troy ran to the gym and grabbed a basketball. Sharpay began strutting around the halls, and yelling at people for no reason.

Chad came up to Troy. "Yo, dude, what's up?" he asked. Giving Troy a highfive.

"You know, basketball. I've been working on free throws. How long before the next big game?" he asked.

"Dude, why are you suddenly talking about basketball for? You haven't talked to anyone about basketball ever since you and Gabriella started dating." Chad replied.

"I haven't talked about basketball in awhile, just played. I figured I need to get my head back in the game. Think fast!" Troy said as he chucked the basketball to Chad, who reluctantly caught it.

"Did you hit your head?" Chad asked, half serious.

"No. And as team captain, I think we should have practice right after school, tell the others." Troy said. And with that, he just grabbed the basketball back from Chad and turned and began walking down the hall while tossing the basketball up in the air.

"Okay, that was weird." Chad said to himself.

Sharpay walked up to Troy and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Some girls were staring at them.

"You better not be staring at my boyfriend!" she yelled, then the girls began to walk away quickly. "That's right, you better run!" she screamed after them.

"I think its working." Troy said with a grin.

"Hopefully." Sharpay replied.

"Yeah, I told Chad to tell the team to be in the gym after school. I'm actually holding a practice without my dad telling me." Troy said.

"I've been yelling at people the rest of the day. And it feels good." Sharpay said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I haven't had a conversation about basketball in like a month." He replied.

They seen Ryan and Gabriella coming down the hall in opposite direction. So Sharpay decided to call them over.

"Gabriella, Ryan, over here!" Sharpay screamed waving.

"Hey guys." Ryan greeted.

"So what's going on?" Gabriella asked.

"Nothing, just me and Troy are trying to get the school to go back to normal, and it doesn't involve breaking anyone up." Sharpay replied.

"Again?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, but this plan is much simpler. All me and Troy have to do is act like our old selves." Sharpay answered.

"Sounds great, good luck with that." Gabriella answered, then began to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Sharpay asked.

"Oh, I don't want to miss the bus again, I can't expect to get a ride home everyday." Gabriella answered.

"I told you I didn't mind." Ryan said.

"I know, but I have to go." Gabriella answered, then began walking off again.

"Dude, you have to do something if you want to ask her out." Troy said.

"Who said I wanted to ask her out?" Ryan asked.

"Well, anyone with eyes can see you both have a thing for each other, and I can tell that you want to have some time alone with her." Troy said.

"This coming from a guy who I've barely said 2 word to?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I'm all for giving advice to my girlfriend's brother. Maybe sometime we could shoot some hoops, or something. Maybe you can hang out with me and Chad this afternoon." Troy replied.

"Ok, I guess." Ryan answered.

"Do us all a favor and just ask her out, she's already almost to the door." Sharpay said.

"Fine, but what time do you want me to meet you?" Ryan asked.

"Be at my house at around 5, and wear gym clothes, you'll need em" Troy answered.

"Well, later guys." Ryan said as he ran to the door.

"What was that all about?" Sharpay asked.

"I'm trying to get him to see there's other things out there besides drama, and plus, we need a new member on the basketball team, I just found out that one of the members quit." Troy answered.

"So your going to trick my brother into liking basketball, just to get a new member?" Sharpay asked.

"Yeah, not unless you don't want me to." Troy answered.

"No, your being sneaky, I like that." Sharpay said, giving him a grin.

I thought you would. Troy said, while giving Sharpay a kiss.

(back to Ryan and Gabriella)

"Hey Gabby, wait up!" Ryan called out.

"Hi again Ryan." Gabriella greeted.

"Do you want me to give you a ride home?" he asked.

"That's okay, I'm sure you have other things to do. I can take the bus." She replied.

"No, I mean, I want to give you a ride." Ryan stated.

"Okay." She replied, following Ryan to his blue mustang.

They both got in the car, and began driving.

"Do you want to stop and get an ice cream?" Ryan asked.

"I don't have any money with me." Gabriella replied with a small frown.

"That's okay, I'll pay." He said with a smile.

"Well then, I accept." Gabriella replied with a smile this time.

They pulled in at the ice cream parlor. Ryan jumped out and ran to the passenger side and opened the door for Gabriella.

"Thank you." She replied shyly.

"You most very welcome." Ryan replied returning the smile.

He shut the car door and they both walked inside. They strode over to the counter.

"What flavor do you want?" Ryan asked.

"Surprise me." She said.

"Okay, go grab a table." He answered.

Gabriella went and got a table in the back, a table made for two. Ryan returned with two ice cream cones in each hand. He handed one to Gabriella, then began eating the other as he sat down. Gabriella began eating hers too.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

"This is good, what flavor is this?" Gabriella asked, licking the ice cream again.

"Cookie Crumble Supreme." He answered.

**a/n: I don't know if there's an ice cream flavor called that or not, if not, then I guess I made it up.**

"I think I just found a new favorite." She replied.

"What was your old favorite?" he asked.

"Vanilla." She answered.

"Vanilla? That's just so ordinary and plain." He said.

"Sometimes ordinary and plain is the best." She said.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well, when something is ordinary, your used to it. It's nothing old, and nothing new. You know exactly what to expect." She replied.

"And how would you describe this?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Well, I would describe this as extraordinary. It can be something old or new, but it would never be plain. Its like you never know what to expect. You may be used to it, but it still holds surprises." She answered.

"I never looked at it that way." Ryan replied, now looking at his ice cream cone like he just saw it for the first time.

"I like to look at things in perspective. Its just one of my habits." Gabriella said.

"Very insightful." He commented.

"Why thank you." She replied.

They talked about other things, like school, their family, Sharpay's plan to change the school back. But soon they finished their ice cream, and was once again in Ryan's car and headed to Gabriella's house. On the way there, they talked about more stuff, like the dance, music, tv, etc. They then arrived at Gabriella's house.

Ryan got out and opened the door for Gabriella once again, and he walked her to the door.

"Why don't you come in?" Gabriella asked.

"I guess I could for a little while. Troy wants me to meet him at his house around 5." Ryan answered.

"How come?" she asked as they walked inside and shut the door behind them.

"I think him and Chad are going to try to teach me how to play basketball, cause he told me to wear gym clothes." Ryan said.

"Oh. Sit down, I'll get you something to drink." She said.

"Okay, do you have any root beer?" he asked.

"Yeah." She replied as she went in the kitchen. She came back with a root beer for Ryan and a lemon-lime soda for herself.

"I forgot to tell my mom I was home." Gabriella said.

"Where is she?" Ryan asked, looking around.

"She's probably upstairs cleaning or something." She answered. "Hold on, I'll be right back."

"Okay." Gabriella ran upstairs. Ryan just looked around the room. He noticed a picture sitting on the mantel. So he got up and walked over to it and picked it up. There was a man, a woman, a girl, and a boy that looked the same age.

"Hey." Ryan put the picture back quickly and jumped around.

"I was just looking at… sorry." He said as he walked back to the couch and sat down.

"That's okay, I don't mind." Gabriella said as she grabbed the picture and went and sat down by Ryan on the couch.

"Is that your family?" he asked.

"Yeah, this was taken just 2 years ago, a few weeks before my mom got divorced." Gabriella replied.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up." He apologized.

"I don't mind." She replied, glancing back down at the picture.

"Is that you dad?" Ryan asked, pointing at the man in the picture.

"Yeah, and my brother." She replied softly.

"I didn't know you had a brother." Ryan said.

"Yeah, he's my twin." Gabriella said. Usually she didn't talk much about her family, even Troy didn't know about her dad or brother, but Ryan was easy to talk to.

"You have a twin?" Ryan asked, surprised by this fact.

"Yeah, his name is Mikeelo. Mick for short. My dad got custody over him, and my mom got custody over me." Gabriella explained.

"That's cool, I never knew any other pair of twins before." Ryan said, his eyes and voice filled with excitement.

"Well, you might get to meet him in a few weeks, because my dad gave my mom a call. He said that he's been so busy with work that he never gets to see Mick. So he asked my mom to take custody until he's out of high school." Gabriella said, getting excited now that she was talking about it.

"That's going to be cool." Ryan replied.

Gabriella took the picture back and placed it on the mantel. Then walked back over and took her seat again on the couch, taking a sip of her soda, then placing it back on the coffee table. They both heard footsteps and turned around towards the stairs.

"Oh, hi. Gabriella, you didn't tell me you had company." Ms. Montez said, looking at Ryan.

"Sorry mom. This is Ryan, Ryan, this is my mom." Gabriella said, introducing them.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Montez." Ryan said.

"Nice to meet you too Ryan." Ms. Montez replied back. "Wait, are you the one taking Gabby to the dance this Friday?" she asked.

"Yeah. If you don't mind?" he said, now sounding nervous.

"Oh no. I was just asking. Gabriella's told me so much about you." She said.

"Mom!" Gabirella said.

"Sorry honey. Well, I'll be outside if you need me." She said.

"Okay." Gabriella replied. They heard the door in the kitchen slam shut.

"That was embarrassing." Gabriella said blushing.

"I thought she was really nice. So, what did you tell her about me?" Ryan asked curiously.

"I told her how nice you are, and stuff like that." Gabriella replied.

"Why don't you come to my place tomorrow evening. I'll let you meet my parents?" Ryan suggested.

"Okay. That sounds fun, I'll ask my mom later." Gabriella replied.

"Oh no, I'm supposed to be at Troy's house in 5 minutes." Ryan exclaimed as he looked at his watch.

"I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow." Gabriella replied.

"How about you call me at say, 9?" Ryan asked.

"Okay." Gabriella said as Ryan handed her the piece of paper he scribbled his number down on.

"Bye." He said.

"Bye." She said as he left.

Ryan drove quickly to Troy's house. He was 5 minutes late, but that wasn't too bad.

"Sorry I'm late." Ryan said as he jumped out of the car.

"Dude, where's your gym clothes?" Troy asked.

"Oh no, I forgot. I was at Gabriella's and I didn't have time to run home." Ryan said.

"Don't worry about man, I got some spare clothes, I had a feeling you would forget, so I layed them out." Troy said, pointing to the spare clothes lying on the couch. They really weren't Ryan's style, but he didn't want to ruin his good clothes. So he went to the bathroom and changed. He walked outside. Chad was there.

"Okay, we're going to start with seeing how many free throws you can shoot." Troy said, passing the ball to Ryan. Chad walked over to Ryan.

"Dude, don't worry about it, he's been acting a little weird lately." Chad said as he walked back over to the side lines.

"Okay Ryan, start shootin" Troy said. Ryan had a little secret that no one knew about him, not even Sharpay. He shot the basketball, and it was nothing but net.

"Woa, dude, how did you do that?" Chad asked, looking at Ryan in disbelief.

"I guess it was just a lucky shot." Ryan said.

"Well, shoot some more." Troy said. Ryan shot several more, each going in with a swish everytime.

"You can't have that many lucky shot's." Chad said.

"Okay, Chad, Ryan, do a little one-on-one. Let's see how well you two do." Troy said as he stood on the sidelines. They began running, Chad had the ball, dribbling it, Ryan got it, and dribbled it, faked left, went right, shot it and made it in with ease.

"Go again!" Troy yelled. They both began again. They did several rounds. Ryan made it in everytime.

"I think I'm just still tired from basketball practice." Chad said, breathing hard.

"Okay, Chad, you sit out. I'll take it from here." Troy said. Ryan was sweating just as bad as Chad, but he wasn't going to be defeated. Him and Troy began playing one on one. Ryan had the ball, he dribbled it, faked right, broke left, shot, and nothing but net once again. They did several other rounds. It was a tied game. 4 for each of them. The next shot would win. Chad was just sitting on the ground wondering how Ryan, thee Ryan Evan, the drama geek was so good at basketball. Then before there eyes, Ryan made the shot, Troy jumped to block it. He missed, and the basketball bounced on the rim, then went in.

Ryan just went over off the court and layed down in the grass, shutting his eyes. He was exhausted. Troy just stood there gaping. Chad just stared blanklessly forward. His eyes filled with disbelief. Finally Troy walked over and took a seat in between Ryan and Chad.

"How did you do that?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, how on earth, did you beat Troy. No one on the team can beat him." Chad added in.

"I don't know, I guess I'm just lucky." Ryan said, his breathing now back to normal as he sat up.

"That was not luck." Troy said.

"Yeah." Chad added.

"Okay, fine, I've had basketball practice before, every weekend I go and practice basketball with my private coach. I tell Sharpay I'm taking dance lessons. So no one knows it, but I'm an expert at basketball." Ryan said.

"Omg, you have to be on the team!" Chad said.

"Yeah, we were looking for a new member, and you would be perfect!" Troy added.

"I don't know, I'm pretty into drama, and plus, what would everyone think, especially Sharpay?" Ryan asked.

"Just say you'll give it some thought." Troy said.

"Okay, I'll think about it, but I'm not promising anything." Ryan said.

"Okay, let us know." Troy said.

"I will, but I'd better be getting home. Later guys." Ryan said.

"Later." Troy and Chad said together.

"Do you want me to give these back?" Ryan asked, pointing at Troy's clothes he was wearing.

"No, that's okay." Troy answered. Then Ryan went through the back door, grabbed his clothes from the bathroom, then drove home.

**Well, there's chapter 7. I thought I should've added some twists to this story. I wonder what will happen now. Well, leave a review.**


	8. Runaway

**Well, I'm back for another chapter. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, I appreciate it. Anyways, here's the next chapter. **

Ryan stepped out of his car, slammed the door behind him, and set the alarm. He walked in the house. He didn't feel like changing just yet. He was still tired, and sweat was still trickling down his face. Sharpay came down the stairs to see who came in. She saw Ryan sitting on the couch.

"What happened to you?" she asked as she took a seat beside Ryan.

"Basketball is what happened." He answered while swiping his hand through his sweat filled hair.

"Was you any good?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I beat Chad 5-0, and I beat Troy 5-4." He answered.

"Wait a second. Did you just say you beat Troy?" she asked gaping at her brother.

"Yeah, he wanted me on the team, I just said that I would think about it." He said.

"You should go for it. They're looking for a new member." She suggested.

"Really? Your not surprised?" he gaped.

"No, Troy told me that he was looking for a new member, and he was going to see how good you were at basketball." Sharpay chimed.

"I guess I could consider it." He said thoughtfully.

"But I don't get how your so good." She said.

"Okay, the truth is, I don't take dance lessons, at least not every weekend. I've been taking basketball lessons with a private coach." He replied.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, stunned because her and Ryan tell each other everything.

"I didn't know how you would react about it. Because drama is our life, I didn't know how to tell you that I like basketball." He answered.

"Well, before I would have probably been furious, but now I think its wonderful that you like sports." She chirped.

"Why, because your dating the all-star?" he teased.

"I resent that." She teased back, giving him a playful hit on the shoulder.

"Well, I'm going to go take a shower, then go in my room and read or something." He replied.

"Okay, wait, aren't those Troy's clothes?" Sharpay asked, looking at Ryan like she just saw him for the first time in her life.

"Yeah, I was running late getting to his house and I forgot to grab some gym clothes, and he lent these to me. He just told me to keep them." Ryan explained.

"Oh." Is all Sharpay said.

Ryan went up and took a shower. The cold water felt so good running over him. He felt so gross with all of that sweat on him. He stepped out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around his wasted. He walked into his room and changed into some flannel pajamas, and slipped on some house shoes. He grabbed a book off of his bookshelf. It was a Stephen King novel. He only read one page, before he decided to do something else. He checked the time. '8:57 p.m.' the digital alarm clock read. Gabriella would be calling soon. He didn't really expect her too though, she might have forgotten or something, Ryan thought. He just walked over and laid down on his queen size bed and began tossing a ball up and down. A few minutes later he looked at the clock, it said '9:08 p.m.' well, she forgot, he decided. Just then the phone rang. He picked it up quickly without looking at the collar I.D.

"H-hello" he stammered. He heard a woman crying into the phone. "Who is this?" he asked nervously.

"This is Gabby's mom, I don't know what happened. I went to check on her, but she wasn't in her room. She left a note saying that she wouldn't be back." Ms. Montez cried. "Have you seen her?" she asked.

"No Ms. Montez, but if I do, I'll let you know." He stated.

"Thank you Ryan, your such a nice boy." Ms. Montez said before she hang up.

Ryan began pacing his floors. Why did she run away? How could she? What could have happened? A million thoughts were racing through his mind. He changed out of his pajamas and threw on some jeans, an old sweater, and some worn tennis-shoes. He didn't look his best, but he wasn't too concerned about that. He ran downstairs. Sharpay was on the couch watching T.V. He decided to tell her where he was going.

"Shar, Gabriella ran away from home." Ryan said in a rush.

"What!" Sharpay screamed.

"Her mom called and said she ran away, I have to find her. Tell mom and dad that I'm at a friend's. Ok?" he asked softly like he was talking to a little kid, trying to get them to stay put."

"How long will you be gone?" Sharpay asked.

"Well, it's almost 9:30 now, if I don't find her by 1:00, then I'll give up and go to Troy's." he answered.

"Can I come?" she asked.

"No, I need you to stay here, in case she shows up here." Ryan ordered.

"Okay, I hope you find her. It just doesn't make sense, why would she run away, its not like her." Sharpay said.

"I don't know, that's what I want to find out." Ryan said.

"Good luck." Sharpay said with a small smile.

"Thanks, Shar." Ryan said, returning the smile, then he walked out the door. He had a flashlight and his cell phone. "I hope I find her." He whispered aloud as he began walking down the sidewalk shining his flashlight ahead of him.

**Sorry that it's so short, I just felt like leaving everyone in suspense. I know it does seem out of character for Gabriella to run away, but I wanted some drama in this story. Well, hope you leave a review.**


	9. Finding Gabriella

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.**

Ryan walked around aimlessly for what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes. He was alert to every sound, hoping one of those sounds would be Gabriella, but none of them were.

"What could have happened to her? Why did she run away?" Ryan wondered aloud. He didn't have the slightest idea where Gabriella could be. It just didn't make sense. He thought for a moment of where she could be. Then it hit him. "Of course!" he screamed in a whisper.

His hopes were high as he began running to the shopping district It was a 1 ½ mile run, but he made it. He was now standing in front of the ice cream parlor. It would be open for 2 more hours. It closed at midnight & opened again at noon. It was 10:00 right now. He walked inside and looked around. He saw some college kids, an old couple, a few kids from his school, and ther she was, sitting at the same table they had sat at earlier today. She was sitting alone and eating what looked like a Cookie Crumble Supreme ice cream cone.

Ryan let out a sigh of relief. He stuffed the flashlight in his jeans pocket and walked over to Gabriella's table. He took a seat. That's when she noticed him. She looked up and he saw that her eyes were red and watery from where she must have been crying.

"Hi Gabby" Ryan said softly.

"Hey Ryan." She replied back, just a little above a whisper.

"Why did you run away?" he blurted out.

Tears began falling from her eyes again. Ryan decided they should go somewhere more private to talk, like the park. Gabriella agreed, so they walked to the park just a few blocks away. They both sat down on a bench. Gabriella had thrown the rest of her ice cream away. She was still crying softly.

"Now can you tell me?" Ryan asked gently. She nodded her head in reply.

"My mom and I got in a little argument, nothing too serious. I ran up to my room out of frustration. I decided to come down shortly, but stopped halfway when I heard her talking on the phone. She was at first bragging about how nice I am, and that I make really good grades. The she said that I just think about boys half the time, and I don't pull my weight around the house. I stomped back up to my room, from anger and sadness. I did the first thing that came to mind, which wasn't so brilliant. I scribbled out a note, then snuck out my window, down the vines. I came here." She explained. Ryan nodded his head.

"This just doesn't seem something that you would do, I always thought you were so…" Ryan started.

"Predictable? Yeah, I thought so too, I guess not." Gabriella finished.

"I guess I would describe you as extraordinary then." Ryan said with a smile.

"You're not so ordinary yourself." Gabriella pointed out.

"How so?" he asked curiously.

"I always thought you were an ice prince, or king, or whatever. Just like your sister, how everyone called her the ice princess. But you proved me wrong, you suddenly became nice and caring." She explained.

"I always was nice, I just never showed it, because I always wanted to be tough, and not show weakness. That's the way me and Sharpay think." Ryan replied.

"Well, I think your tough for showing your real side." Gabriella commented.

"Thank you. And to tell you the truth, I always thought you were just a smart person, who thought she could rule the school and get any guy she wants." Ryan confessed.

"Well, I am smart, but I don't rule the school, and I'm not sure if I can get any guy I want, I never thought about it." Gabriella replied.

"You've only had one guy so far at East High." Ryan teased.

"Well, how many girlfriends have you had then?" Gabriella asked teasingly.

"This Year?" he asked.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Well, I went out with Kelsi for a few weeks in September, Taylor went out with me for 3 days in October…" Gabriella cut him off.

"You and Taylor went out?" she asked, surprised by this fact.

"Yeah, she didn't tell you?" he asked.

"No, not that I know of." She replied.

"I also went out with Debra for a week in October, Cindy for 1 day in November, Jessica for the whole December, and that's it" he said.

So you went out with Debra, another scholastic decathlon member? Cindy, isn't she a cheerleader. And Jessica, she's in drama club isn't she?" Gabriella asked.

"Yes, yes, and yes." Ryan answered. "Me and Kelsi didn't work out because she suddenly became interested in jocks, Taylor decided to join the scholastic decathlon, then she fell for one of the braniacs and dumped me. Debra didn't work out because she fell for a braniac also, Cindy didn't know who I was, Sharpay gave her the note for me asking her out, she said yes, then the next day she found out who I was and dumped me, clearly, she can only date jocks, and nobody else. And I dumped Cindy because she was always flirting with other guys. Maybe I just thought that or something, but she acted like she wasn't interested in us anyway." Ryan said.

"It sounds like you don't do so good with relationships." Gabriella replied.

"All of them were really nice, I guess I just haven't found the right girl yet." He answered.

"Who is the right girl then?" Gabriella asked.

"I don't know, do you?" he asked playfully.

"I don't know either." She gave him a playful grin. "It could be me, all you have to do is catch me." She said as she took off running through the park. Ryan sat there for a few seconds then took off after her. They ran through the park laughing. It was dark, but the moonlight lit the place up. Ryan finally caught up to her, and grabbed her around the waist. They fell to the ground laughing.

"Okay, I caught you, now where's my prize." He asked playfully.

She leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. He smiled, then kissed her back. Gabriella wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck. He scooted closer, and put his arm arms around her waist.

Ryan heard birds chirping, so he sat up and yawned. His eyes went wide then. He realized that he was still at the park. Gabriella was still asleep. He shook her. She woke up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then she too realized that they weren't home.

"Oh no." she said. Ryan looked at his watch.

"It's already 8:00, we don't have time to go home and change." He said as he stood up and grabbed Gabriella's hand and pulled her up.

"We would be in homeroom right now. We probably look terrible, but we have to get to school, I don't want to mess my perfect attendance record up." She said.

"I know, I have perfect attendance too. We better go." He said. They ran all the way to school, and pushed the doors to East High open. They trotted to Ms. Darbus' room. They entered. Everyone stared at them. Shapay was sitting in her seat, she gaped at them.

"Mr. Evans. Ms. Montez. So nice of you to join us" Ms. Darbus said.

They both blushed and took their seats, eyes still following them. Everyone had the same thought. 'What on earth happened to them? Ryan, the fashion extraordinaire was wearing a baggy sweater, jeans, and tennis shoes, and no hat either. Gabriella is wearing her usual clothes, but her normally perfect hair, is kinda outta wack.' The bell rang, and Sharpay and Troy confronted them.

"Where were you two, I didn't know what happened!" Sharpay screamed.

"And what's with the clothes, and is that a flashlight?" Troy asked pointing at where the flashlight was sticking out.

"Uh, well, you see, we kind of fell asleep in the park, and woke up not to long ago. We didn't have time to change, and didn't want to mess our perfect attendance records up, so we came straight to school." Ryan explained.

"Why were you at the park?" Sharpay asked.

"That's where we went after I found her." Ryan answered. "To talk, and we sorta' fell asleep I guess."

"But still, how could you fall asleep in the park?" Troy asked.

"It was late, and we were tired, so we fell asleep." Gabriella answered.

"Well, I'm glad your both okay." Sharpay said. "Well, come on Troy, don't want to be late." She said, as she grabbed Troy's hand and they walked out the door, leaving Ryan and Gabriella alone.

"So…" Ryan said, feeling awkward.

"So…" Gabriella repeated.

"I guess we better head to class now." Ryan said.

"Yeah, guess so." Gabriella agreed, as they began walking out the door.

They stopped at where they would have to go different directions. They lingered there for a moment, not sure if they should say bye, give each other a hug, or give each other a quick kiss or what.

"Well…" Gabriella said.

"Well…" Ryan repeated.

They stood still, seconds ticking by. What happened last night was complicated. Neither of them knew for sure if they were a couple or not, so they didn't know how to act around each other.

"Maybe during free period, we could go get some extra clothes, and run through some songs?" Ryan suggested.

"Yeah, sure" Gabriella answered. They both looked around. Everyone was passing them, headed to their classes, they should be, but they both wanted to know one thing, were they a couple? I mean, they didn't discuss it last night, all they did was kissed. Just because you kiss someone doesn't mean you're a couple.

"Well, see you later." Gabriella said.

"Bye." Ryan replied. They just turned and walked to their classes, unsure of what to do.

Gabriella went to her math class. She wanted to ask Taylor about Ryan. She took her seat, and began talking to Taylor.

"Hey Tay, what do you know about Ryan?" Gabriella asked.

"I wouldn't consider myself an expert on him either, you should see Sharpay for that." Taylor replied.

"But you went out with him for a little while, you should know something." Gabriella said, catching Taylor off guard.

"Who told you that?" Taylor asked.

"Ryan told me himself." Gabriella answered.

"Okay, we dated for 3 days, he's really nice to the people he cares about, not nice to those who he dislikes, but he's sweet, and caring, but he just wasn't my type. He was too sweet for me. I guess I prefer bold guys, like Chad." Taylor replied.

"Thanks" Gabriella said. The rest of class she focused on her work. It was now free period. She met Ryan at the center of the hallway. They walked to the auditorium, Troy and Sharpay were in there going over some songs. Ryan and Gabriella made their way to where the extra clothes were located. They found some shirts and pants, and shoes similar to what they usually wear. They went in the bathroom, and straightened their hair up. Ryan didn't have a hat, but he still looked like his normal self. They deposited their own clothes in their lockers and went back to the auditorium.

Sharpay, Troy, Ryan, and Gabriella all practiced together. They practiced their singing and dancing. They were all really good. Sharpay and Troy were sharing a hug and a kiss, while Ryan and Gabriella were left looking around awkwardly.

"I can't take it anymore, Gabriella, are we going out or not?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know, I guess, if you want to." Gabriella stammered out.

"Sure, I guess." Ryan replied.

"I guess you were right, I can get any guy I want." Gabriella said smiling.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked confusingly.

"I got you." She answered. Ryan smiled at her.

"Well, I guess I can get any girl I want then, cause I got you." He answered back.

The bell rang sharply, signaling everyone to head to their next class, which for the sophomores was lunch. Ryan took Gabriella's hand in his and they began to walk out of the auditorium, with Sharpay and Troy walking hand in hand too behind them. After they all got their trays, they sat at one table together, in the dreaded center of the cafeteria, where anyone who sat there got noticed.

"So, I see you two are a couple now." Sharpay stated.

"Yeah, just recently." Ryan replied.

"Dude, nice." Troy said, giving Ryan a high five. Sharpay and Gabriella just rolled their eyes. 'Guys' they both thought.

"Troy, I decided that I'll take your offer and be on the team." Ryan said.

"Awesome." Troy replied.

"Your going to be on the basketball team?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, I was good, Troy offered me a spot, so I thought it over, and decided to be on the team." Ryan answered.

"That's great!" Gabriella exclaimed, as she threw her arms around Ryan, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You never kiss me on the cheek." Sharpay joked. Troy then kissed her on the cheek.

"There, now I did." He replied. She just gave him a playful shove. They all noticed they were being stared at by several people around the cafeteria. Chad and Taylor then came over.

"Yo Dudes. Whats up." Chad said, as him and Taylor sat down, with Chad's arm around Taylor's shoulder.

"Nothin, so are you two an official couple now, or are you both still seeing different people?" Troy asked.

"Nah, we're official." Chad replied. They were all sitting in pairs.

"So Gab, are you and Ryan going out?" Taylor asked. Gabriella nodded.

"I knew you liked him." Taylor exclaimed. "You always ask me about guys your interested about." Gabriella blushed. Lunch was now over. They all stayed in one group the remainder of the day, walking in couples, watching as people spread as they all walked through. Sharpay and Troy lead the way, Ryan and Gabriella in the middle, and Chad and Taylor in back. They were all the talk of the day, mostly Ryan and Gabriella. One thing they did notice though, is that mostly everyone was hanging out with their own cliques. It was soon the end of the day, no practice for anything. Ryan dropped Gabriella off at her house, she had a lot to talk about with her mom, he dropped Taylor off, then Sharpay, then he drove with Chad and Troy to Troy's house to shoot some hoops, Ryan grabbed some gym clothes from his house first though.

A week passed, and everyone was doing great. Gabriella clearly misunderstood her mom. She had meant it in a good way. That Gabriella did think about boys, but she always chose the nicest ones, and that she made up for her lack of chores by being a really great cook. Ryan was doing great at balancing drama and basketball. Troy joined drama again. The school was still staying in order. I guess you could say that everything was back to normal, well, normal enough.

**Well, I guess this is the end, maybe, unless you want me to continue. I hope you liked it. **


	10. Author's Note

I have continued, just not in this story. I started a sequel, Back to Normal 2. I have the first chapter up if you want to read it. I thought that the way I made the ending to this story would be something I couldn't continue from, so I started the sequel, so as I said before, if you want to read it, then look for it.


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